Belgrade - the real deal

For a devotee of the turn-of-the-century (19^th to 20^th that is) espionage writer E. Phillips Oppenheim, to walk the streets of Belgrade was a thrill. Most of Oppenheim’s World War I spy stories take place in major European cities, and Belgrade has been a favorite setting for his novels. One can almost feel the diplomatic intrigue and tension just by strolling in this city for one can see the beautiful art nouveau buildings bumping up against the joyless soviet-style cellblock architecture.

Kinda' tells its own story...

Don and I took the public bus into the city this morning. Our digs in Belgrade are actually in Zemun, a suburb of Belgrade about 15 minutes away (we have to have private parking for the car remember…). Even trying to buy the bus ticket is an adventure. Since it’s cheaper to buy it in the literally “corner store,” Don and I venture over there to get the tickets; you can buy them from the driver, but they are a little more expensive—anyhow, we want to try to be like a local and buy our tickets properly. Long story short, we go to three stores, people try to help us, but no one can explain what to do in English—so we give up and buy the tickets on the bus. Every time something like this happens when we’re traveling, I vow that I will really go out of my way if I see someone who isn’t American having a hard time figuring something “simple” out in our country—and most of the time Don and I do try and help people because we know how the easiest thing is a major production if you are a “foreigner.”

Dodging raindrops on the city pedestrian walk.

 

 

 

 

It was raining lightly today, but it didn’t really impact on our day except that our pictures are not set against the blue sky, but you can’t have it all. We walked down the main streets, strolled into a few churches, had a nice lunch at the 200-year-old “?” restaurant (yes the name is ?), and spent the majority of the day in the Kalemegdan Citadel, which is really a large and leafy green park that is very vibrant and had great views of the city. Interspersed between all of this, we stopped three times to have coffee at sidewalk cafes and people watch. We also stopped into a craft fair and found a lovely miniature oil painting of Belgrade that we’ll add to our collection of city scenes that we try and buy while traveling. We think one more day in Serbia, and then we’ll head into Hungary.

It is not unusual to have carved creatures peering from under windows and over doors. Cool....

Entrance to the 16th century Citadel

A remnent of the Serbo-Croatian war - we think. We decided not to go into the Military Museum so we don't know for sure.

"Which twin has the Toni?"

A Belgrade City ofice buiolding located within the citidal. Nice place to work where lunch will always be in a park....

Yet one more striking Serbian Orthodox church

Lunch at the "?." Pat seemed more interested in the English=language newspaper than my lamb brain sufflé.

The pedestrian mall in late morning - when it was still raining but before the poster exhibit was put up (see below).

Along the pedestrian mall was an exhibit of visual rhetoric - posters designed by design firms to advance the (often political) viewpoints of the clients. We found ourselves bristling somewhat at the less than flattering anti-American sentiments but this one we had little problem dealing with.